Det. Polo’s arrest of felon earns recognition by CAC

CAC chair James Blough (left) congratulates Det. Pedro Polo for outstanding work in the presence of Capt. Miguel Hernandez of Hammocks Police District.

A felon with “an extensive criminal past” was arrested while attempting to hold up a West Kendall service station with a knife, as a result of the alert work of Det. Pedro Polo of the Miam-Dade Police Department’s Hammocks District.

For his exemplary effort, Det. Polo was honored as the district’s Officer of the Month for July 2011 and received a special citation from Citizens Advisory Committee chair James Blough at the July 27 meeting.

While driving to begin a regular duty shift at 3:50 p.m. on June 27, Det. Polo heard a 9-1-1 police radio broadcast that the BP gas station at 14700 SW 88 St. was “being robbed at knifepoint.”

First to arrive at the scene, Det. Polo parked behind the station and carefully approached the entry door, observing an assailant wielding “a large kitchen knife” at the cashier through a front window.

Entering the store, Det. Polo ordered the individual at gunpoint to drop the knife and lie prone on the floor, ending what Capt. Miguel Hernandez described as a “potentially violent situation with no loss of life or injury.”

During a subsequent investigation, the subject was identified as having an extensive criminal record, including charges for battery on a law enforcement officer. Now charged with armed robbery, the subject was said to concede to investigating detectives that he “was desperate for money” and intended to rob the store.